Enable javascript in your browser to enjoy the full experience.
James, Jennifer, Georgina. Are the Butlers. Father, mother, daughter.
The autobiography of a family.
An autopsy of book design.
A story
Written between the lines of 1136 meticulously documented postcards, spanning ten years of travel, is the tale of the Butler family. It is a story of abandonment and love, of sickness and health, and of a marriage in transit.
In this bright-yellow, 1200-page volume, world-renowned designer Irma Boom carefully and thoroughly retraces the journey of a lifetime. Her Yellow Book is a monument to book design, and an epic family portrait.
A story in postcards
From 1989 to 1999, James and I drove 270,000 miles together. As the roads unrolled, I would think about our daughter Georgina, about what to tell her. We travelled to save James and to protect our daughter. And every day we were apart I wrote to her.
The first act of the book—an exquisitely printed selection of postcards, penned in Jennifer’s steady hand, with James’ irregular interjections—sets the calm, but relentless pace, in which the Butlers confront their obstacles; mile by mile, stamp by stamp, one day at a time.
Stamped this week in 1991
Tuesday, 19 February 1991, Jennifer’s birthday
I haven’t travelled in a long time because I haven’t sent you a postcard since November. We had a very unpleasant start at Heathrow – a terrorist bomb scare and Dad and I were evacuated from the terminal to the tarmac for 90 minutes: it was bloody cold.
Thursday, 20 February 1991
This is where Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear.
Thursday, 21 February 1991
Dad and I do not like making decisions under pressure. I suppose it gets them out of the way by a certain time. I don’t feel another year older.
About a year ago Mummy behaved appallingly badly in this village. I wasn’t with her which is why she was so naughty. Pour (olive) oil on troubled waters I say.
Friday, 22 February 1991
As the French said when the first Sputnik flew round the world: Bleep Bleep Bleep, Grippe, Grippe, Grippe, Bleep Bleep Bleep. It’s the day of the land war in Iraq, and although sunny and clear, rather sad.
Stamped this week in 1992
Saturday, 22 February 1992
Mummy is now plastered on Côtes du Rhône. And so is her coat as she sat in a mess when we talked on the phone from the house. Crocus and jonquils in flower.
Sunday, 23 February 1992
I have never seen so many varieties of lettuce (with taste): purple, white, rose, variegated – we might as well be choosing roses!
Stamped this week in 1993
Wednesday, le 24 fevrier 1993
...guess where the afternoon ended? The hairdressers. A very funny hairdresser named Victoria who told me ‘I can’t wait for bigger problems so that the present problem seems smaller.’ She has also just married a man 20 years younger than herself.
Stamped this week in 1997
Lundi, le 17 février 1997
Orchards of almond blossom underplanted with terraced walls and spring green grass, mineral stone kiosks, neon coloured bridal parties, mint tea – hot!, masks, whole villages constructed of mud with white surrounds for window decoration. And our lovely driver/guide: Babooka. Telouet was a staging post for camel trains on their way to Timbuktu. 52 days to get there.
A story in many postcards
As many days as there are clouds.
October 1989
November 1989
December 1989
January 1990
March 1990
May 1990
June 1990
July 1990
August 1990
September 1990
November 1990
February 1991
March 1991
April 1991
May 1991
June 1991
July 1991
August 1991
October 1991
A story with conversations
The second act of the saga takes place a decade after the Butlers’ journey ends, when their daughter Georgina is coming of age. In 21 transcribed, informal conversations, the family openly and honestly discusses their shared history, recorded on the postcards.
Conversation Twenty-one [Excerpt]
James Jennifer Georgina
Manor Farm, Dorset, Friday, 21 May, 2010
Jennifer It’s the last dialogue and the theme—surprise, surprise—is the postcards. I’ve read and reread the postcards so many times.
Georgina When did we start keeping them? Why weren’t they thrown out?
Jennifer My intent was always to give you a history of me, of us, of Dad because I was denied that. I don’t even have a photograph of me with my mother. Not one. YES. I wanted someone to know I became part of a family and, as it turned out, a very ancient family. My life began with me. I have no information about my ancestors. So I married a husband with a great ancestry. [Uncertain if this is funny or sad]
James I think Mumm did have a lot of guilt about being away so much. It was complicated. It was a way of keeping in touch and keeping me alive.
Georgina Why did the postcards stop?
A story about family
I don’t remember you and Dad at all before seven.
In the third, and last act of the book, the Butlers’ story is presented in yet a different way. An intimate selection of pictures from family albums, depicts the protagonists, as their lives unfold, both separately and together.
A book
In this exclusive, limited-edition tome, internationally acclaimed bookmaker Irma Boom explores narrative structure and storytelling, in relation to graphic design. Respectfully, yet uncompromisingly, she captures the true story of a family; its beauty, but also its reality.
As equally extraordinary and innovative as the narrative structure, is the design of the rich yellow object itself. A unique three part spine was especially developed for this nine centimeters-thick book, allowing it to open effortlessly at any page.
A book by Irma Boom
Amsterdam-based graphic designer Irma Boom's prolific and influential body of work (currently consisting of over 250 books) focuses on the elemental and formal aspects of book design—size, paper, structure, and binding—in relation to the content. During a time when the lineage of book printing history is rapidly changing course, Irma’s designs have brought her international recognition, and commissions including Chanel, Ferrari and the United Nations. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Gutenberg‑Preis and Johannes Vermeer Prijs. Irma’s work has been exhibited in museums worldwide, and is included in the permanent collections of the MoMA, and the University of Amsterdam.
A book as a portrait
During the creation of this book, which entailed an intensive, three-year collaboration between Irma Boom and the Butlers, she invited renowned Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf to make portraits of the family, in his signature style.
A book of the Butlers
I have come back to the family.
Purchase
ISBN 978-0-9566266-0-8
Unsigned editions of James Jennifer Georgina for € 666.
Signed editions of James Jennifer Georgina for € 3000.
Display copies of James Jennifer Georgina are available at the following bookstores, museums and collections:
New York
MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)
11 West 53 Street
New York, New York 10019-5497
+1 212 7089400
http://moma.org
Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603-6404
+1 312 4433600
http://artic.edu
Paris
The American Library in Paris
10, rue du Général Camou
75007 Paris
+33 1 53591260
http://americanlibraryinparis.org
Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Museumplein 10
1071 DJ Amsterdam
+31 20 5732911
http://stedelijk.nl
UvA Special Collections
Oude Turfmarkt 129
1012 GC Amsterdam
+31 20 5257300
http://bijzonderecollecties.uva.nl
Nijhof & Lee
Oude Turfmarkt 129
1012 GC Amsterdam
+31 20 5257300
http://www.nijhoflee.nl
Eindhoven
Van Abbemuseum
Bilderdijklaan 10
5611 NH Eindhoven
+31 40 2381000
http://vanabbemuseum.nl
Contact
Erasmus Publishing Limited
Manor Farm
West Chelborough
Dorset, DT2 0PY
United Kingdom
Phone +44 1935 83790
Email info@erasmuspublishing.com
Website erasmuspublishing.com
Colophon
Book design and concept by Irma Boom, http://irmaboom.nl
With photos by Erwin Olaf, http://www.erwinolaf.com
Website design and texts by Joris Landman, http://jorislandman.com
Product photos by Ivan Jones, http://ivan-jones.co.uk
Published by Erasmus Publishing Limited, http://erasmuspublishing.com
© 2010–2014 All rights reserved
All information on this website falls within the terms of copyright or is part of the public domain as far as the publisher is aware and has been able to verify. This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission from the copyright holder(s).